Embracer has laid off a ‘sizable portion’ of Gearbox support studio Lost Boys Interactive

Lost Boys Interactive appears to be the latest developer to suffer heavy layoffs.

Lost Boys, which was founded in 2017, is a support studio which has worked with Gearbox on a number of projects including Borderlands 3 and Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands.

In 2022 the studio was acquired by Gearbox (which in turn is owned by Embracer Group), and saw its staff grow to over 400 people following the acquisition.

However, as reported by Aftermath, the studio was hit on Friday with numerous layoffs.

Although it’s not yet clear exactly how many employees have been laid off, former studio producer Jared Pace posted on LinkedIn that it had been “a sizable portion”, including himself.

“Still trying to understand the scope of it all,” he added, “but sadly this is a song and dance we’re all familiar with.”

Embracer announced in June 2023 that it was implementing a restructuring programme which would involve the closure of studios, layoffs and the cancellation of some projects.

It has since shut studios like Saints Row developer Volition, Campfire Cabal and Free Radical Design, while others have reportedly been put up for sale, such as Borderlands maker Gearbox.

During its second financial quarter ending in September 2023, the company made more than 900 layoffs, with cuts impacting such studios as Crystal Dynamics, Beamdog, Zen Studios and Fishlabs. Last month Embracer also made layoffs at New World Interactive, 3D Realms and Slipgate Ironworks.

Job losses across the games industry were widespread in 2023, and don’t appear to be slowing this year.

Companies impacted by layoffs last year include Media Molecule, Codemasters, Xbox Game Studios, Epic Games, Sony Interactive Entertainment, CD Projekt, Unity, Ubisoft, Riot Games, Blizzard, BioWare, Striking Distance, Team17, Frontier Developments, Telltale Games, Digital Extremes, Amazon and Digital Bros.